United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Fernandez and Laiseca Building, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas 5. Classification Ownership of Property x Private Public - Local Public - State Public - Federal Category of Property x building(s) district site structure object Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 2 0 buildings 0 0 sites 1 0 structures 0 0 objects 3 0 total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: 0 6. Function or Use Historic Functions: Commerce/Trade / general store Current Functions: Commerce/Trade / professional 7. Description Architectural Classification: OTHER / Border Brick Style Regional Vernacular Principal Exterior Materials: BRICK Narrative Description (see continuation sheets 7-8) Page 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Fernandez and Laiseca Building, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas 8. Statement of Significance Applicable National Register Criteria x A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. x C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history. Criteria Considerations: NA Areas of Significance: Architecture, Commerce, Ethnic Heritage/European (Spanish) Period of Significance: 1915-1968 Significant Dates: 1915 Significant Person (only if criterion b is marked): NA Cultural Affiliation (only if criterion d is marked): NA Architect/Builder: Unknown Narrative Statement of Significance (see continuation sheets 9-15) 9. Major Bibliographic References Bibliography (see continuation sheet 16-20) Previous documentation on file (NPS): _ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. _ previously listed in the National Register _ previously determined eligible by the National Register _ designated a National Historic Landmark _ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # Primary location of additional data: x State historic preservation office (Texas Historical Commission, Austin) _ Other state agency _ Federal agency _ Local government _ University _ Other -- Specify Repository: Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): NA Page 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Fernandez and Laiseca Building, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property: 0.1377 Coordinates Latitude/Longitude Coordinates Datum if other than WGS84: NA 1. Latitude: 25.903522°N Longitude: -97.495675°W Verbal Boundary Description: Lots 1-2, Block 113, Original Townsite of Brownsville, Cameron County Texas Boundary Justification: This is the site historically associated with this property. 11. Form Prepared By Name/title: Stephen Fox / Juan M. Vélez, Historic Preservation Officer Organization: Anchorage Foundation of Texas / City of Brownsville Street & number: Anderson Hall, Rm. 100, Rice University, 6100 Main Street / City of Brownsville Planning & Development Services Department, 1034 E. Levee Street, 2nd Floor City or Town: Houston / Brownsville State: Texas Zip Code: 77005-1892 / 78520 Email: [email protected] / [email protected] Telephone: 713.348.3378 / 956.548.6142 Date: 2 May 2017 Additional Documentation Maps (see continuation sheets 21-22) Additional items (see continuation sheets 23-31) Photographs (see continuation sheets 5-6, 32-56) Page 4 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Fernandez and Laiseca Building, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas Photograph Log Fernández & Laiseca Building Brownsville, Cameron County, TX Photographs by Juan M. Vélez Date: March – May 2017 Photo #1 Northeast elevation (front) facing E. Madison Street, camera facing southwest. Photo #2 Northeast and southeast elevations, camera facing west. Photo #3 Southeast elevation (side) facing E. 12th Street, camera facing northwest. Photo #4 Paneled double-leaf street doors, barred transom, and segmental brick arch, Detail from exterior. Photo #5 Southwest elevation facing rear patio, camera facing east. Photo #6 Southwest elevation, detail from exterior, camera facing northeast. Photo #7 Vertical wood plank patio doors, barred transom, and segmental brick arch. Detail from exterior. Photo #8 Cast iron grill screening vent opening on patio wall. Detail from exterior. Photo #9 Exterior brick buttress at E. Madison-E. 12th streets corner, camera looking northwest. Photo #10 Exterior brick buttress at E. 12th Street-rear alley corner, camera looking north. Photo #11 Exterior brick buttress at rear alley-west property line corner, camera looking east. Photo #12 Southeast and southwest elevations, camera facing north. Photo #13 Brick parapet, corbelled cornice, and belt courses. Detail from exterior, camera facing north. Photo #14 Southeast front of one-story, one-room brick dwelling in patio, camera facing northwest. Page 5 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Fernandez and Laiseca Building, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas Photo #15 Interior brick fireplace and hearth in one-room brick dwelling in patio. Detail from interior. Photo #16 Northeast elevation of barred zaguán gates and alcove from inside patio, camera facing southwest. Photo #17 North corner of patio showing southwest elevation of main building, partial southeast elevation of one-room brick dwelling, trees, and brick wellhead, camera facing north. Photo #18 Cistern in patio, camera facing east. Photo #19 Interior of 1152-1154 E. Madison Street bays, camera facing northeast. Doors on right face E. 12th Street. Photo #20 Interior of 1152-1154 E. Madison Street bays looking toward patio wall, camera facing southwest. Doors on left face E. 12th Street. Photo #21 Interior looking past line of wood structural posts toward doors facing E. 12th Street; doors on right face patio, camera facing southeast. Photo #22 Interior of 1142 E. Madison Street bay, camera facing northeast toward E. Madison Street. Photo #23 Interior of 1142 E. Madison Street bay, camera facing southwest toward patio. Photo #24 Chamfered wood structural post and zapata bracket. Detail from interior. Photo #25 Wood floor planks, Detail from interior. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC. Page 6 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Fernandez and Laiseca Building, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas Narrative Description The 1915 Fernández & Laiseca Building located at 1142-1154 E. Madison Street is a one-story retail store building that occupies Lots 1 and 2 of Block 113 in the Original Townsite of Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas. The building faces northeast toward E. Madison Street and the 1913 Cameron County Courthouse. It backs up to a walled patio that abuts a midblock alley bisecting Block 113, spanning between E. 12th and E. 11th streets. Across the alley lies the 1883 Cameron County Courthouse (since 1914 the Masonic Lodge). The southeast elevation of the Fernández & Laiseca Building is aligned with E. 12th Street. The building’s architecture represents an extremely conservative perpetuation of the nineteenth-century regional vernacular building practices of the Texas-Tamaulipas border called the Border Brick Style. Detailed brickwork including a decorative cornice, brick parapet, brick buttresses and segmental arches as well as wood windows, double leaf wood doors, and a flat roof constitute the primary character defining features of the building. The external brick structural walls of the building were constructed in 1883 as freestanding exterior walls enclosing the jail yard of the Cameron County Jail. The 1883 jail was demolished in 1915 but the enclosing walls were salvaged and recycled to become the perimeter walls of the new Fernández & Laiseca retail building. A small freestanding contributing patio dwelling and cistern